Hang in there. My Niobe wilted two years in a row and finally in its third year, it leaped and it's been neautiful ever since. It doesn't get really tall but lots of blooms.

I planted hagley hybrid last year, it did nothing but die untill late august when it put up a teeny bit of new growth.(a few inches at best) This year it has come back wonderfully. It is blooming up a storm right now, although it hasn't gotten very tall.

Thanks, this gives me hope. I was sure it wasn't dying because it is still as green as the day I planted it. I'll just keep planting fillers while I wait.

Your clematis will be building new roots for several years, then it will reward you.

The old rule for planting clematis is.....

First year sleep,
Second year creep,
Third year LEAP !

Suzy

I have 2 Niobe's & they do take awhile to get going. In my yard they grow the slowest out of any of my clematis. Just wait you will just love the flowers on your Niobe & you will find it worth the wait. The color does not fade in full sun & to me this is a bonus. Enjoy your Niobe!

I laughed when I saw this thread from last summer. It stayed the same until it died down for the winter and now I have a full foot single stemmed clematis growing with a beautiful burgandy flower atop. LOL. My jackamani is a monster like always and this one is so pitiful. I can't wait until next year when it will hopefully "leap". I'm just hoping it isn't done it's creeping already. I'd love to enjoy one more bloom from it this season. Why, do we do this to ourselves?

thought i'd add in my 2 cents. my niobe is on year 3. first year, wilted almost to the ground, second year, 1 bloom inches off the ground, third year, 4 or 5 buds... totally looking forward to when it blooms. not a very big plant though, it's only a foot high at the moment.. flowers will be staring at my knees.

I had no idea this one was soooooo sloooooow starting off. I have a good idea even though it is early in the season that this will probably be my success of the seasona and I did take a picture. That is okay. I had a volunteer painted lady runner bean come up this year so I'll have something to fill in the space again. My jackamanii is a root monster. I plant about 3 feet away from it and still run into roots. This one I've dug right around it and the roots are still very small. I guess I can't complaint though as this is only it's second spring and it sounds like I've got about as much growth as you do but only this one single bloom.

Gee, I planted Niobe last year and it bloomed nicely. This spring I see multiple stems emerging.... I refuse to believe that it will be a small slow grower.

Niobe has done well for me also. It bloomed nicely the first year, very well the second year and has multiple buds now with two of them about half open. It has grown to the top of an eight foot fence the first two years and I am sure that it will this year also. I have it planted with two other type 2's, Marie Boisselot and The President. After they bloomed last year I cut them way back and here is a picture of the rebloom. I'm lucky to live in a zone where I can do that and realize that not everyone can expect to be able to cut them back and get rebloom.
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BOB!!..How breathtakingly beautiful..same here in Texas..I can get 3 bloom cycles on my pruning group3 some years...Jeanne

That is beautiful. It may be that I bought it very small, one of them in the small box. The other Clematis I have did very well since the day I put it in and have to cut it back to keep it contained somewhat or else it runs wild. It is already over a foot past my mailbox trellis and full to the bottom and starting with about 5 or 6 blooms with hundreds of buds. Hopefully I'll get lucky with this Niobe after this season. The one bloom I have tells me it is worth the wait.